Friday, November 30, 2012

"the wonderful city of Asheville seems to be a hotbed for up-and-coming
experimental musicians these days, and Zach Smith's Difference Clouds
quickly leaped out as a standout project with his self-titled debut on
Bathetic earlier this year. veering away from the hyperspace sequencing
that defined that release, Shiro presents a side of Smith's sound
world that is subtler and even organic at times. with synthesizers,
sourced thumb piano, and other samples, Smith creates works that
patiently unfold and offer build ups that are just as satisfying as the
sweet spots. Smith is another young mind impressively locked into
electronic sound. tune in now and expect more great work from Smith and
his cohorts from the Land of the Sky very soon. pro-dubbed and imprinted
chrome cassettes, featuring designs by Caroline Teagle." tranquility tapes

"throughout his work with duos Sundrips, Dozens, and Aphid Palisades,
Montreal's Ryan Connolly has proven himself to be a mighty collaborator. recording on his own as Trailing, Connolly's solo work is no less
powerful. Asymmetries finds him reveling in the stillness of
sound. clean guitar loops are set forth eloquently, layered carefully,
and left to dissipate into a beautiful mist. remarkably calm and
relaxing, it's hard to think of a release in our catalog that embodies
the label name more than this one. let the sounds wash over you
repeatedly and you might even believe they have the power to heal. pro-dubbed and imprinted chrome cassettes, featuring designs by Caroline Teagle." tranquility tapes

Thursday, November 29, 2012

"frankly, Valérie Magisson’s music is both: mystifiying and enlightening. her ambient miniatures sound familiar yet weird and strange. as if ghostlike voices are whispering long forgotten tales into your ears. spellbinding. Baldruin’s slightly nightmarish playground orchestra is the perfect equivalent to Sunhiilow’s music. again there is all the individual notes swirling like glowworms through a late summer night held together by Johannes Schebler’s talent for frail and creepy soundscapes." sicsic

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

"Take the trip and forget yourself. It was all a myth anyway. Two
lights guide the way: Former Selves sources soporific synth streams
that ebb and flow with the moons, rippling phrases carried along the
way. Journey of Mind lights the path with beacons
of static-ridden luminescent samples, warped on re-entry. Feel your way ~ it’s the way you feel."sunk series

"t's not every day you think to drop Religious Knives, Stereolab, The
Velvet Underground and Peaking Lights in the same sentence but that's
exactly what Beau Devereauxhas done withSamantha Glass. The precise nature of the sunship/cloudcruiser S.S. Palomino Skyliner
remains unclear, but the crux of its charter seems be to facilitate
celestial escape in one form or another. Its builder,Beau Devereaux, is perfectly suited to the task,
self-describing his druidic harvest trances as “music for movement /
leaving earth.” After years wayfaring through a series of brain-burned
flux-psych ensembles he chose to put down roots in a solo universe, ..."nnf

Monday, November 26, 2012

"a trip, or rather an adventure of sounds, from the beats of the jungle
to the drones of outer space. soft poly cases with artwork designed by
Nicola Giunta. limited to 50 copies." jozik

"The Lay Llamas is a tribe that in the year 2092 AD starts a trip from an
unknown region of Nigeria on a self-built spacecraft (track A1) to
reach a planet that they continued to observe every night from the earth
and inexplicably attracted them. once there, explore the planet (track A2) until they meet a totem called the Big Snake (track B1) who will
point the way for the purification and elevation to a higher state of
consciousness (track B2)."

"Live at the Bakken Museum of Electricity, Food Pyramid incants the
freedom of Ash Ra Temple from the vertiginous crest of a great wave.
Their complimentary efforts echo and coalesce through the valleys below,
waking forest life to a somnambulant rustle." constellation tatsu

"Food Pyramid is a Minneapolis based group of musicians and guest
performers who operate in the spirit of an open system to create music
grounded at the intersections of 70s German electronica, 80s Chicago
house, and modern live electronic performance. Food Pyramid seeks to bridge the practices of acoustic ecological
investigation, musical production, meditative contemplation, and dance
as a universal metabolic process."

Friday, November 23, 2012

In preparation for their Japan tour with Grouper in April 2012, En (Maxwell August Croy & James Devane) defined the genesis for 'Blood'. Upon returning home, ideas developed from their performances were fleshed out and a new organism birthed. Jefre Cantu-Ledesma was sent parts of the completed En track, which he used to create 'Blood Variations'.

Released: 17′th November 2012

Side A – En

Music by Maxwell August Croy & James Devane. Recorded at The Space and Fiesta House, San Francisco, Spring 2012.

"Ancient Forever is the newest offering from Ashan. exploring the deep
energies of the Earth, the hidden beings, and the magicks that bind us
all. essentially, this music has been about getting in touch with life
in all its forms and formlessness. much love and intention went into it and i'm very excited to finally be sharing it after a year since its creation. peace!" sean

~ released 10 November 2012.
music and art by Sean Conrad. additional vocals on Forest Hair by Rosa Beach-Mason.
mastered by Knowself ~

"pronounced ah-shahn. the vibration of creation, of harmony, of
unification, and of love. used as a greeting, blessing, and an
expression of love. to be spoken or said mentally to attune oneself to
the rhythms of the universe."

Thursday, November 22, 2012

"The Kevin Costner Suicide Pactis a four-piece from Denver, Colorado who
turn a massive pile of communally manipulated pedals into a delicate
wash of sound. despite (or because of) the number of members, this crew
is known for it’s subtlety. And despite the subtlety, the songs on this tape have a presence that only a group so tight-knit could create."hooker vision

"a contemplative drone wafts from the collective's floorcore alchemy for guitars that blossoms into a dissonant crescendo of wintery noise sounding like a lo-fi version of Tim Hecker or Lawrence English. on the second half the Pact eschews the guitars for a freak-folk amalgam of bells and Finnish-inspired clatter that morphs into a balefully cinematic conclusion to the tape with deeply resonant loops that speaks to the expansive land in which these gentlemen live, as some sort of cracked, lugubrious reinterpretation of Arthur Honegger's early 20th Century symphonic ode to railroads and trains in Pacific 231. another great find from Hooker Vision."aquarius

"Fleeting Talisman was recorded using only the grimiest records and crudest equipment available in west Georgia thrift stores."hooker vision

"the title alone
made me curious. and my curiosity was immediately overwhelmed with
abstract, sonic beauty. the sound of Crippling is opaque, murky, always threatening to
disintegrate; yet it is concurrently beautiful, fascinating and
consoling. in the process, the sounds ascend, descend, and throb;
however, hope manifests throughout. the first part emits a vibe from a Miles Davis fusion era live show, when the
sound of his trumpet would descend among the backdrop of Jarrett and
Corea. even then, the intermingled sounds of the band would produce an
uplifting sound, a feeling of hope. that feeling is eerily present
throughout the rest of the tape: dense, tangled sounds follow the
introduction, existing under the hiss before breaking through,
descending and reappearing. side B finishes the trip properly as
flailing loops and broken sounds imbue the environment, refusing to
depart as the mood vacillates."honest bag

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

"Eiderdown is proud to present the world with the debut release by Belgian duo Gonzalez and Steenkiste. G & S is Glen Steenkiste (Hellvete, Silvester Anfang II) and Ernesto Gonzalez (Bear Bones Lay Low, SA II)
in their first ever release in a duo capacity. Introduced with bowed
cymbals and bells, “Stuffed…” massages the dear listener with glorious
waves of gradual violin, harmonium, banjo, and tampura. The heavy air is
temporarily refreshed by a backporch guitar/banjo hoedown, before the
cassette finishes with the massive vibe of the 19 minute closer
“Paradise” …Even the birds get in on the act at some point and everyone
goes home with the satisfaction of “being there”. Belgian (get) high
weirdness at it’s finest."

"A Story Of Rats is back on Eiderdown after his killer
LP from last year. More synth creep wizardy and this time Garek Druss’
synths and vocals are accompanied on the journey by Mr. James Woodhead
(Elemental Chrysalis/At The Head OF The Woods) on guitar, voice, and
bells. “The Chariot and The Wooden Spear” is an emotional tractor beam
of sound, pulling the listener with slight drum pulses along a
meandering path thru vales of both beauty and grimnitude. An amazing
collaboration by two treasures of the Pacific Northwest’s deep vibes
scene.

Hellvete is Glen Steenkiste’s solo gig, principal
member of Belgian psych-improv rockers Silvester Anfang II. Hellvete has distilled his
psychotropic ur-folk sound into tasty slabs of acoustic/electric drone.
Alternately comforting and suffocating, these pieces created with bowed
banjo, harmonium, tampura, and Casio leave the listener with the
experience of shaking hands with the ghost of Angus MacLise at the
crossroads of Annapurna and some nearly-forgotten Flemish forest."

"i met matt himes, the man behind shep and me, in belfast, maine last spring and
i was instantly captivated by his music. using a mix of incredible folk
inspired guitar playing, tape loops, field recordings and his unique
voice, he makes some of the eeriest, most engaging folk infused
soundscapes i have ever heard. i imagine that shep and me sounds like a
collection of old dust-bowl folk recordings that have been melted
corroded and then discovered seventy five years later. ghostly, haunting
and beautiful are all adjectives that can be used to describe this
tape."time~lag

"Nasturtium Inertia. For those un-familiar, Shep and Me is the moniker of
multi-instrumentalist Matthew Himes. On Nasturtium Inertia he continues
to create hauntingly beautiful songs woven out of solo guitar and banjo
fragments with ghostly vocals layered on top of electronic drones and
warbles. Housed in gorgeous handmade sleeves, painstakingly assembled by
Himes himself, don’t miss out on some of the most unique music to come
out this year." mind skull

"smoky-folk psychedelia. originally released on cassette by El Tule in
2009, the vinyl edition of "Nasturtium Inertia" has been re-mixed,
re-sequenced and remastered, with two new songs this time around not
available on the cassette version. hand screen printed art-paper sleeves
and double-sided full color insert with lyrics."lighten up sounds

'nasturtium inertia', cuya versión en cassette tiene dos canciones no incluídas en el vinilo ('aftermath of the red-ox' y "scraps and debris') y al revés ('this rate' y 'melancholy remedy'), es su mejor disco y eso es mucho decir. la voz de Matthew Himes, que parece quebrarse de pura fragilidad, será siempre la de un duende de los años cincuenta, en sus manos las notas quedan reducidas a una capa de sonidode vinilo antiguo desgastadoque de tan bonito, marciano, atemporal, añejo, hace que, sin exagerar, casi se me salten las lágrimas. tan desnudo que hasta 'trees, chants and hollers' de Valerie Webb & Paul Labrecque y 'aren't you ashamed'' de Cap'n Jack parecen producidosy convencionales. nunca unas canciones sonaron tan sinceras, tan confesionales, tan tristes, como si Matthew intentase decirnos algo ('I feel like so much of that work comes from a deep place of personal
misery, and the only reason for the project to exist is to try to share
those feelings with people and get it out of my system. performing live as Shep and Me over the years became a fairly painful
experience, like method acting, or going out and crying in public, so I
eventually felt that it was healthier to not perform these songs. The
project officially started in 2001 with the first s/t cassette release,
so I put in a full decade of work into the project').

Sunday, November 18, 2012

"Portugal's João (aka Mediafired, jccg, and Sofa Pits) returns with a new track from his delphinidae-inspired project, The Exhalers. according to João, 'Pearls and Shells' is 'again a little narrative through the eyes of a dolphin and its relationships, in
which basic emotions/affections are expressed in that fluffy,
spontaneous, mammal way.' It's hard to beat that description, as it's
just so easy to imagine this winding, mercurial piece as a backing track
(or cosmic conversation?) within the daily adventures of our four-lobed brained friends. the heavily effected tones of the casio ctk-495
also add an appealing element of simplicity that make it all easier for
our own two-lobed brains to calm the fuck down for a minute. meditation
aid? yes, definitely.

this track will serve as the finale of a new musical 'trilogy' entitled Dive Hard. check out trailer for that here. we're excited to see how this semi-narrative, sonic experience takes
shape, but in the meantime, take a moment to let this track wrap your
head in digital ring bubbles and carry it off to who knows where." international tapes

Friday, November 16, 2012

"Forget The Timesis a free improv collective from Kalamazoo, led bySean Hartman. the band combines elements of psych, drone,
avant garde and free jazz. they have drawn comparisons to The
Dead C, Acid Mothers Temple, U.S. Maple and Captain Beefheart. instrumentation is generally very guitar heavy and almost never features a bass player. rhythms are embedded with tape manipulation, synth drone, field recordings and monotone vocals creating a cathartic and spacey sound. formed in the summer of 2010 from members of local Kalamazoo bands
Rotten Wood Moon, Son Drop and The Philly Crawlers. lineups have since
featured members of The Reptilian, The Almanac Shouters, Totally Rad,
William Bonney and The Dead Mavericks."

Thursday, November 15, 2012

"Micromelancolié and Sindre Bjerga 'Prayer Calls'. an amazing work from
two great underground musical explorers, using modified field
recordings, dictaphone tape manipulation, non-input mixing board
feedback and computer processing to create an incredible three track
album for Aurora Borealis. released as a cd in Arigato pack limited to
just 200 and as a download. shipping November 19th." aurora borealis

"Von Himmel means 'From the Sky' in German. obviously, their song titles
suggest a supreme fascination with celestial bodies, galaxies beyond and
interstellar regions of dark matter and plasma clouds drifting about
the universe. sonically, their sound stretches out for the heavens as
well. It's a trippy and progressively unsettling voyage into the
unknown. this floating psychedelic cosmos is electron charged with
echo and delay effects, stoney cymbal hissing impulses and blown out
harmonic resonations. once launched into orbit this first track
hovers, crawls lethargically, intensifies, subsides, expands and
contracts as though it were on some elliptical collision course into
some black hole void. second track evens the tension, riding the
interstellar highway smoothly with phased out effects in ascending and
descending waves, exploring the furthest points of the
galaxy sifting into macrocosmic meditative ambient spaces. alien sci-fi psychedelia." kfjc

"Moon Moss... blast off! the echo of cosmic synth sounds announce that
exploration has commenced. Astronomer begins with some a conga jam,
which is soon joined by the flute and synth. the flute is alluring,
floating on the drum beats." honest bag

"It's not difficult to imagine this as some educational 1970s soundtrack
whipped up by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and one can almost hear
David Attenborough's mellow voice describing the living habits of
leafcutter ants or something." aquarius